Title: In the BeginningFandom: Detective
Conan/Magic Kaitou
Author: Candyland
Theme:
#26—frozen moment at the first sightPairing: Kuroba
Kaito/Nakamori Aoko
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All
characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I do not own them. I
merely borrow them, drop them in a blender, hit puree, and watch them
dance. Yes, dance, my pretties…ahem.
Summary: In
hindsight—even years down the road—he would never really figure
out why he stopped.

Kaito
really wasn't sure why he
was so fond of the clock tower. It was sort of like his strange
affinity for heights: he really had no fear of high places, but rather
enjoyed them. There were far more interesting
monuments around, as well as plenty of places that would be far
better suited to a child his age. But it was the tower that he
favored. In the end, he supposed, it came down to people.

There were always people wandering
around, and he had a certain fascination with people. It was probably
crazy in a kid his age, but he liked to watch. Everyone was a
different person with a name, a home, a job, a life. Each of them was
heading towards a different destination, and each of them would be
going somewhere else tomorrow.

He'd said as much to his parents
once, that people were interesting. His father had actually looked
quite proud, while his mother simply muttered something about his
father's son and patted him on the head. And Dad had encouraged him
to keep watching people.

His mother called it lurking.
He'd had to look the word up—it meant sneaking. Except he wasn't
sneaking around, really. He was sitting right out there in plain
view, just watching; anybody could have looked at him and seen what
he was doing. But he was actually very good at sneaking…except when
Dad was around. Dad always seemed to know exactly where he was
and what he was doing.

It was really weird.

But it was getting late. That was
enough "lurking" for one day, he supposed.

Kaito got up and started down
towards the street with every intention of going home when he saw a
hint of movement out of the corner of his eye: there was a little
girl, about his size, standing off to one side, leaning casually
against the wall of the clock tower.

In hindsight—even years down the
road, when their unlikely friendship had blossomed and grown into
something far, far closer and far, far deeper—he would never really
figure out why he stopped. But he did: he froze, dead in his tracks,
and just looked at the girl.

She was cute—not that he really
truly appreciated such things yet, but he recognized cuteness when he
saw it, and she was cute. Her hair was brown and long and sort of
messy—a lot like his, really. They hadn't figured out how to tame
his hair yet, but his mother had once proclaimed that she was
adopting it as a personal mission. He didn't know yet if she was
serious or not…

But the real thing that drew his
attention was that she was all by herself. And she looked awfully
lonely, and sort of sad. And that bothered him, both her apparent
unhappiness, and the fact that she was alone. To Kaito's
seven-year-old sensibilities, that just didn't seem right.

So he had to stop and ask—it was
only polite, after all, and Mom always said manners were important.
Feel quite proud of himself for remembering Mom's lessons on
politeness (especially where girls were concerned) he tiptoed
up to the girl.

She didn't notice him at first,
but after a few seconds of him peering at her from around the corner
of the wall, she must have felt eyes on her, and turned to look
questioningly at the strange boy beside her. She had really big blue
eyes.

"What're you doing?" he asked
quizzically.

The little girl, who looked like
she was around his own age of seven, looked at him in surprise before
she looked back out towards the street. "I'm waiting for my
father. But he's working…" her voice dropped, "so he might
not come for a while."

"I see…" he murmured, also
glancing out towards the street. It really was getting late; the sun
was setting, and it would be dark soon. He should be getting home
before his mother started to worry—she didn't like him being out
after nightfall. But he didn't want to leave her here, by herself.

He glanced back at the girl. He may
have been only seven years old, but he could still recognize that she
looked very sad; it was even more evident to him now that he had
gotten up close. And Kaito hated to see other people sad. On a total
whim, he reached out a hand.

It was a simple trick, one of the
first ones his father had shown him. He could have done it in his
sleep, but it always seemed to impress other people. All it took was
a simple flick of the wrist to make a red rose appeared in his
fingers.

"I'm Kuroba Kaito," he
grinned cheekily. "Nice to meet you."

She stared at him for a moment in
open amazement, and he was pleased; he liked doing the little tricks
his dad had shown him and watching people be amazed. Then, slowly,
she reached up and took the flower, pulling it back to her with a
blush and a shy smile. "I'm Aoko."

PS.I
know, I know, another LJ challenge…but I couldn't help myself.
The theme list was awesome, and as I read down them, they just
SCREAMED Kaito and Aoko…maybe I should get my ears checked
or something, 'cause it was a bit weird. But either way, may I do
it justice.

As for the story itself…random
thoughts.I just love the story of how
Kaito and Aoko met. It's just so cute! Hope y'all liked, feel
free to stick around for another thirty-nine chapters, thanks a mil,
and much love!

Also, Happy Announcement of
Evil: HAPPYBIRTHDAY, FYLIWION-CHAN! You asked for
Kaito/Aoko, and I'm hopefully going to deliver! So happy
eighteenth, hon. And remember: growing up is required, but maturity
is totally optional :) Words I live by. Much love!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.